Traditional connectors for balanced audio cables, DMX lighting cables, mains power cables, and speaker cables have terminals/contacts which are non-coaxial and typically are connected to wire by soldering, set screw, or clamp. Often, multi-conductor cables have a pair of twisted wires surrounded by a braided shield. Common multi-conductor cable connectors utilize multiple electrically isolated terminals/contacts corresponding to the multiple conductive strands of the multi-conductor cable. Typically, each of the conductive strands of a multi-conductor cable is soldered to respective terminals/contacts of a corresponding common multi-conductor cable connector. Using a multi-conductor cable, such as a triaxial cable and a specially formed connector to effect proper alignment can avoid the hassles and problems associated with soldering; however, multi-conductor cables are somewhat inflexible and require the use of nonstandard trimming tools which adds to the difficulty in preparing the multi-conductor cable, and adds to the complexity of the specially formed connectors.
Thus, a need exists for an apparatus and method for efficiently ensuring proper connection of the multiple conductive strands while maintaining the benefits of a coaxial cable, such as ease of preparation and RF shielding properties.